Tread for boots and shoes.



W. B. AGKBR.

TREAD FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED mm 27, 1911.

. 1 3 57 Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

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UNITED STA ATENT carton TREAID FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept; 19, 1911.

AppIication filed March 27, 1911. $erial No. 617,192.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM BERTRAND Amman, a citizen of the United States, 're-' siding at ll ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and use ful improvements in T reads for Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to reference characters marked thereon,which form. a part of this specification.

This invention relates to treads for attachment to the heels of boots, shoes, and other footwear.

lleretofore, in the manufacture of trends, it has been proposed to embed a plug of wear resisting material, such as leather or fabric in the lower surface of the tread in order to prevent slipping of the heel when walking and excessive wear on the mati-a'ial constituting the body of the tread. Such a construction has been found objectionable in actual practice, in that the constant pounding on the heel of the shoe incident to walking soon causes the exposed portion of the plug to wear in the direction of the outer edge of the heel and present an inclined surface to the ground, with the result that the plug instead of acting as an anti-slipping device, enhances the tendency of the heel to slip orslide, especially when walking on smooth or wet surfaces. It has also been proposed to provide the heel of a shoe with a series of strips of fabric stand.- ing on edge and slantingly disposed with relation to the tread in order to insure a good anti-slipping surface. These fabric strips, however, extend approximately the entire length and Width of the heel so that while the anti-slipping qualities of the heel arc in a. measure increased, yet such a heel does not meet the conditions of service in that the fabric strips are not conccntratedat the outer portion of the heel, and furthermore, where the heel is made of rubber or other yieldable material, the resilient or elastic property of the rubber is either totally or partially destroyed.

The primary object of the present invention is to obviate the objectionable features referred to and to present to the trade a heel or tread of simple and durable construction having a plurality of longitudinal wear re sisting strips embedded therein so as to pre vent slipping when walking on smooth or wet pavement-s, the invention being particularly adapted for use with cushion heels or treads, as the strips do not impair the elastic orresilient properties thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel or tread, the construction of which is such as to present an anti-slipping surface of constantly increasing area proportionate to the amount of wear on said heel or tread.

A further object is to provide a tread having a plurality of. converging wear rcsisting strips embedded th rein and termi" nating short of the breast of the heel, thus to presenta composite tread surface having different degrees of elasticity in the length thereof.

A. still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and cflicicncy, as well as to reduce the cost of manufacture.

Further objects and ad 'antages will appear in the following description, it; being understood that various changes in form, n'oport-ions, and minor details of construe tion may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims.

F or a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe provided with a tread constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an inverted PGISPGCtlVQ view of the tread detached; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line +llof Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrow, the position of the tread being rcversed or in normal position; Fig. 5 is a siniiilar view showing a modified form of the invention; Fig. (3 is a perspective View looking at the upper face of the tread showing a further modification; Fig. 7 is a similar view showing a still further modification.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawing by the same reference characters.

The ,tread formingthe subject matter of the presentinvention 1s principally designed for attachment to the heels of boots, shoes,

and other footwear, and by way of illustration .is shown applied to a shoe of the ord1- nary construction, in which 5 designates the vamp, 6 the sole and 7 the heel.

The tread comprises preferably a yield able body portion 8 formed of rubber or other 10 the lower lift of the heel 7, as best illustrated suitable material adapted to be attached to in Fig. l of the drawing. Embedded in the rubber or other material constituting the body portion-8 area plurality of spaced longitudinal strips of wear resisting inaterial 9, said strips converging longitudinally in the'direction of the rear end of the .body portion, and downwardly in the direction of the tread surface thereof so as to present a good anti-slipping surface to the ground and also toconcentrate the exposed edges of the strips at that portion of the heel subjected to the most wear. The strips 9 are preferably corrugated at 10 to assist in anchoring the strips within the body por-' .tion and also to reinforce and strengthen the same. The lower longitudinal edges of the heel 7 of the shoe in any suitable manner,

as by nails, or similar fastening devices 13, there being suitable openings 14: preferably formed in the tread to permit the passage of the fastening devices, as shown.

It will here be noted that "by converging the wear resisting strips 9 both vertically and longitudinally, an increasing ant-islipping surface is presented to the ground proportionate to the amount of wear on the heel, as clearly shownin Fig. .l: of the drawing. 'llhus it -will beseen that as the rear end of the tread wears away in the act of walking an"anti-slipping surface of con-' stantly increasing area will be presented to V the ground, sa1d anti-slipping surface consisting of alternate layers of yieldable material and wear resisting material so as effectively to prevent slipping or sliding of surfaces such as ice, to

the heel, especially when walking on smooth like. It will also be seen that by having the rear ends of the. wear resisting strips ex.-

' posed, and the forward ends thereof entirely I-f orward or breast embedded within the body of the tread, the

portion of the tread will allow sufiicient resiliency of the heel to reend of. the heel.

wet pavements, and the ceive and absorb-the jaror shock incident to -8 instead of being used as a tread may be used as the heel itself. I therefore desire it tobe understood that by the term tread also desire it to'be understood that the body of the tread need not necessarily be formed of rubber or other yieldable material, as the .wear resisting strips 9 may be embedded in or-applied to an ordinary leather heel or sole with good results.

in some cases the strips of wear resisting material 10 instead of being-corrugated may be provided with oppositely disposed plane surfaces, as indicated at 15 in Fig. 5' of the drawing, the construction and operation of the device being otherwise the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 6 of the drawing there is illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the strips ofwear resisting material 9 extend from the opposite longitudinal edges of the" body portion and intersect a line drawn approximately through the con ter of said body portion, so as to concentrate the wear resisting strips at the rear In Fig. 7 of the drawing the position of 'the strips is reversed, that is to say the terialpossessing the requisite degree of toughness to resistexcessive wear on the heel. It will also be understood that the I wear resisting strips may be molded or otherwise embedded in the ,body of the tread during the manufacture .thereof, or

suitable kerfs may be formed in the body of the tread and thewear resisting strips inserted tliereimrand the several parts cemented, vulcanized, or otherwise treated'to hold said strips in placewithout the spirit of the'invention. I

'l'laving thus described my invention, what I'claim as'new'is:--- w 1. A tread having spaced longitudinal strips of wear resisting material embedded therein and converging downwardly toward each other in the direction of the tread surface, said strips eXt-ending'from the rear portion of the tread forwardly todep art ng from ward the breast thereof.

It tread including a yieldahle body portion having spaced strips of wear resisting niaterial embedded therein and converging longitudinally in the direction of t to rear end of said body portion and downwardly in the direction of the tread surface thereof.

A tread having spaced strips of wear lh mg material embedded therein and i'ionvcrging dmvnwardly toward each other in the direction of the tread surface there of, said strips being exposed at the tread surface for a portion only of the lei'igth of said strips.

l. A tread having spaced wear resisting strips ei'nbcdded therein with a portion of their lower longitudinal edges spaced from the tread surface at the inner end thereof and substantially lush with said tread surface at the outer end thereof.

5. A tread having spaced strips of wear resisting material embedded therein and converging both vertically and longitudinally of said tread ti. All). elastic tread having spaced strips embedded therein and extending approximately the entire length of the tread, the lower longitudinal edges of the strips being cut away so as to present a yieldalole surface the inner end of the tread and an anticslippingsurface at the outer end of said tread. 4

7. An elastic tread including a yieldalole body portion having spaced longitudinal strips of wear resi ting nuiterial embedded therein and converging longitudinally in the direction of the outer end of the body portion and downwardly in the direction of: the tread surface thereof, the lower longitudi ,al. edges of the strips at the inner end of the body portion being cut away and spaced from. the tread surl'ace thercoit.

8. An elastic tread includiiu a yieldable body portion having converging wear re sist-ing strips embedded therein and concentrated at the outer end of the body porlion, the inner end of the body portion at; the tread thereof presenting an elastic sur face to the ground.

5). A tread having spaced corrugated strips of wear resisting material embedded therein and converging both vertically and longitudinally of the treath thereby to present an increasing anti-slip iing surface proportionate to the amount of wear thereon.

10. A- cushion heel comprisin g alternate strips of yieldahle.inaterial and wear resisting material, said strips ct wear resisting n'iaterial converging longitudinally in the direction of the outer end of the heel and downwardly in the clircction ol" the tread surface thereof.

11. An elastic tread including a ieldablc body portion haring converging wear resisting strips embedded therein and conuzntrated at the outer end of said body portion.

A tread. including a body portion haw ing spaced strips of wear resisting material embedded therein and converging both verticall and longitudinally of the tread, said strips being concentrated at the outer end of said body port'on.

In t'estiinon whereof l have si fncd my name to this specili -ation in the presence of two subscribing \VJJILGSSGS.

'VJ. BERTRALD ACKER. Witnesses Geo. A. lVAnn,

H. F. McCAiss. 

